slisk250
Straight Flush
The people here I've known a long time and understand just a bit of the challenges you face when living in Saudi Arabia can appreciate this story. Maybe the rest will be bored. Either way, this is a not so short story of the last 40 days of hell with a happy ending and I've been waiting for this day for 13 years.
That Exit Only Visa I've been looking for came 6 months early on Father's Day when my employer, Saudi Aramco laid off perhaps 1000 Americans. They beat me to the punch. It was the perfect storm, company goes public, then the oil price wars, then COVID. Never mind the past 5 months of draconian measures far exceeding what any country has done thusfar. You guys are out, forced to risk the travel with all borders closed. In the end we were offered a one way Riyadh/Washington DC Saudia Airlines flight arranged by the US Embassy. There were several. Americans are fleeing the place by the thousands, either by force or after quitting their jobs. There are about 200,000 of us working in the Kingdom.
Once the rumors started in June, I knew I would get the axe. I was the second highest paid K-12 classroom science teacher on the planet with opinions contrary to management. I had one foot out the door. No problem except for the 6 cats I rescued and are part of our family...fuck. No way to get them out and a 60 day ticking clock on the horizon. With KLM & Lufthansa shuttering their pet services due to COVID until November and the brutal Arabian heat stopping any other carrier from hauling animals, we were fucked.
Under normal circumstances, getting all the red tape in order is challenging. You never know if you will be able to exit with them until you get to check in. We had to go with Saudia Cargo with this many pets. They would be in the crates for 30 hours.
We Loaded then up for the 5 hour drive to Riyadh arrived at Cargo to some surly men with no patience and margin English skills. Went from Ministry of Agricultural to airport veterinarian back cargo all the while paying cash bribes of a couple thousand bucks. That took 3 hours and we made the midnight closing time by a few minutes. Then back to the terminal to wait in line for the 5:30am flight. I bet there were another 50 pets checked as excess baggage. No rules were following, these were evacuation flights and Aramco wanted us out so they can start the next round soon.
When I learned there was a July 29 chance to get out, we jumped at it. I knew we needed help with the cats in Dulles. No pets are flying in the states and it is a 25 hour drive to Aspen Park. I sent a PCF pm to several people here pleading for help with supplies so we could get on the road immediately.
That story will come in part two tomorrow...
That Exit Only Visa I've been looking for came 6 months early on Father's Day when my employer, Saudi Aramco laid off perhaps 1000 Americans. They beat me to the punch. It was the perfect storm, company goes public, then the oil price wars, then COVID. Never mind the past 5 months of draconian measures far exceeding what any country has done thusfar. You guys are out, forced to risk the travel with all borders closed. In the end we were offered a one way Riyadh/Washington DC Saudia Airlines flight arranged by the US Embassy. There were several. Americans are fleeing the place by the thousands, either by force or after quitting their jobs. There are about 200,000 of us working in the Kingdom.
Once the rumors started in June, I knew I would get the axe. I was the second highest paid K-12 classroom science teacher on the planet with opinions contrary to management. I had one foot out the door. No problem except for the 6 cats I rescued and are part of our family...fuck. No way to get them out and a 60 day ticking clock on the horizon. With KLM & Lufthansa shuttering their pet services due to COVID until November and the brutal Arabian heat stopping any other carrier from hauling animals, we were fucked.
Under normal circumstances, getting all the red tape in order is challenging. You never know if you will be able to exit with them until you get to check in. We had to go with Saudia Cargo with this many pets. They would be in the crates for 30 hours.
We Loaded then up for the 5 hour drive to Riyadh arrived at Cargo to some surly men with no patience and margin English skills. Went from Ministry of Agricultural to airport veterinarian back cargo all the while paying cash bribes of a couple thousand bucks. That took 3 hours and we made the midnight closing time by a few minutes. Then back to the terminal to wait in line for the 5:30am flight. I bet there were another 50 pets checked as excess baggage. No rules were following, these were evacuation flights and Aramco wanted us out so they can start the next round soon.
When I learned there was a July 29 chance to get out, we jumped at it. I knew we needed help with the cats in Dulles. No pets are flying in the states and it is a 25 hour drive to Aspen Park. I sent a PCF pm to several people here pleading for help with supplies so we could get on the road immediately.
That story will come in part two tomorrow...